Kedves ismeretlen by István Kemény

INI 0 a men, the signares created a matri archal, commercial network that controlled part of the colonial trade and that transformed them from high-class courtesans into members of the local economic elite of the island cityof Saint-Louis. While she has no children of her own, Toinette has adopted Cathy (the "raparille" of the title), an adolescent former captive from thewars of conquest being waged inland,whom the elderly signare is grooming as her successor. Through an act of renunciation and self-def inition that quietly prefigures the end of French colonialism, Cathy will decisively reject thegenteel life that could have been hers in Saint Louis, a life of privilege based on thebrutal exploitation of the colony thatwas being carved out of the African continent. A narrative built around an accumulated collection of distantmemories thus concludes with the departure of the young character who had been tasked with perpetuating not just those memories, but also the society they represent and, in a way, uphold. Toinette's stories will have no suc cessor, anymore than her household or her business. The antiquated charm thatDia infuses into thedescriptions of Toi nette's lifeand loves in the colonial city at the mouth of the Senegal River tends to accentuate the gen eral impression of a dying social order. It isnot only Toinette and the other aging signareswho are disap pearing without producing a viable new generation to replace them; the city itself can foresee its own rela tive decline, when an independent Senegal will choose another capital: "ce rochervolcanique appel? Dakar . . . qui depuis quelques ann?es mena?ait la primaut? de Saint Louis" (that volcanic rock known as Dakar, which had recently been threatening tousurp thecentral role of Saint-Louis). A former teacher and civil ser vant, Fadel Dia only started towrite seriously afterhe retired.La raparille is his second novel, afterMon vil lage au tempsdes Blancs (2000). He has also published an essay, ? mes chersparentsgaulois (2007), and is an active blogger (fadeldia.blogspot. com). Edward Ousselin WesternWashington University Istv?n Kem?ny. Kedves ismeretlen. Budapest. Magveto. 2009. 467 pages. 3490 Ft. isbn978-963-14-2662-5 Until recently, Istv?n Kem?ny (b. 1961) was known as a poet in his native Hungary, and the recent an thology ofHungarian poets edited by George Szirtes, New Order (arc Books), begins with eight of his May June 2010 ir>-? > l-H w -j ci O poems translated into English. Al though he wrote some short pieces of fiction back in the 1990s, Ked ves ismeretlen is Kem?ny's first full length novel. The author's motto, "A novel is fiction," appears next to the title page. This statement allows the author (despite loosely basing some of the characters on real persons) to avoid the danger of too-close identification,as some of themmay still be alive. The novel is set in the 1980s, a period when Hungary was stillunder Communist rule, though by this period party control had diminished and censorship was less strict, with most Western books and records becoming widely available. So the youthful heroes of the book who are seeking "the meaning of life" are able to do this in an envi ronment that, although permiting them only a limited choice of self expression, is varied, more tolerant, and fairly permissive. The narrative revolves around Tam?s, a young man with a "bour geois" background who works in the storerooms of the fictionalNational "Corvin" Library situated up in the Castle. (Though differing inmany aspects, themodel for the library is the actual National S?ch?nyi Libra ry, which is indeed set in a building of the old castle in the Buda hills.) Tam?s's family?the mother, father, Uncle Lajos, and the two sisters?are all described ingreat detail; not only their behavior but also their inner thoughts and feelings are analyzed and thereby exposed. The family lives in Ny?k, a small town near Budapest, a place similar in many ways to the town of ?rd, where Kem?ny himself lived at one point. From here Tam?s commutes daily to the library. The other characters consist ofTam?s's young friendsand colleagues in the library

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